Henry turns four!

Henry turned four on Sunday. Four! He seems to have shot up in the past few months, which his well-check today confirmed--75th percentile for weight, 80th percentile for height. On the way to his appointment, I told him about what they'd do at the check-up. "And they'll see how tall you are. . . " I continued. "Am I 8:30, or 9:30, or 10:30?" he asked. His pediatrician, Dr. Hutton, noticed a wheeze when she checked his lungs, and at this point she said she would officially diagnose him as having asthma. He doesn't have to do breathing treatments too often, so we'll see how things go in the future.

 For breakfast, he requested Lucky Charms, which he was really excited about. He had asked for at least six months for different cereals as we would go grocery shopping, pointing to one and asking, "Can I have this on my birthday?"

 As you can tell, Robbie was excited about having some, too. Henry has a generous nature and was happy to share them.

 Playing "heavy heavy hang over" for presents.

 Nerf guns--woohoo!!! Henry was most excited about this gift.

 He also got a big blue ball and a hover soccer ball set.

 Henry requested a Superman cake--Mom made it and Daddy decorated it. Yum!

 Blowing out the candles.

 Such a big boy.

Happy birthday, buddy! We love you so much. (Clara was sick in bed with a stomach bug.)

{The next morning, Henry asked me at breakfast, "Mama, am I still four?" "Yep!" I replied. "Okay," he said happily.}

As a side note, Henry was diagnosed with Complex Motor Stereotypy disorder in April. We have noticed his excitement movements from when he was little, occurring infrequently. However, over the past few months, they really escalated in frequency and scale, causing his whole body to pulsate, writhe, wriggle, etc. and he occasionally emits sounds as well. We were referred to the UVA pediatric neurologist, Dr. Abu Abdeh, who was very knowledgeable. We also received the same diagnosis from Erik Heiss' neurologist friend, who saw a short video we had sent Erik. They are not harmful, but they definitely make for some interesting movements from Henry. They come and go in frequency and severity and apparently are not outgrown. We had a family fast for him and have received comfort and peace, and he generally seems unphased by them at this point. We've also pulled back on speech therapy for his stuttering (which we began last fall and continued weekly for about six months), trying to work on "easy talking" at home and not interrupting. He's not self-aware enough to be able to correct himself, and I don't want him to feel too much pressure to change his talking. We sure love this kid no matter what adventures come!